The New England Patriots made a shocking announcement Friday afternoon with the decision to move on from former captain and three year starting safety, Jabrill Peppers. Peppers was never considered to be a bubble player heading into the initial 53-man roster cuts, of which he survived.
The decision came with no elaboration from head coach Mike Vrabel or executive vice president Eliot Wolf. This lead to speculation in the media that Peppers was either a personality clash, after last year’s off the field issues, or perhaps just not a scheme fit in Vrabel’s new system.
Mike Vrabel finally spoke to the media Monday morning where he cleared up the rumors.
“No, I don’t think that was certainly not the issue. There’s a lot of reasons,” Vrabel said in response to a question about ‘scheme fit’. “I wouldn’t say that’s — we’re going to try to do what works best for the team. We got a lot of different schemes that we can run in all three phases, special teams, offense and defense. There’s a lot that goes into it. And again, we’re just trying to build toward Sunday here, and that’s our focus. And again, that’s the decision that we had to make. Again, wish the best for Jabrill.”
This answer was not sufficient for the room full of reporters that kept the barrage of questions about the former first round pick coming.
“Just Try To Respect It And Move Forward”
What we gathered from Vrabel was not quite an answer, but it certainly allowed us to remove a couple reasons. Firstly, he spoke highly of Peppers. Nobody forced him to do that. Clearly it wasn’t a potential personality clash.
Secondly, he did deny the “scheme fit” on several occasions. What choice do we have but to believe him.
That leaves us with a third and final conclusion, he just wasn’t his guy. The player that will be replacing Peppers, Craig Woodson, is a rookie hand selected by Vrabel. Perhaps at the end of the day, planting a former captain on the bench for a rookie might have been seen as a bad omen in the locker room. Perhaps releasing the player was an easier way to make the medicine go down.
Regardless, Vrabel knows the way Patriots fans feel about Peppers. He saw the backlash and asked for some grace.
“I know there is a personal side and a professional side, and I talked to the players about that this morning,” said Vrabel. “Whether you agree with it or disagree with it, just try to respect it and move forward. Continue to build a team, continue to build a program. I know Jabrill will do good things in this league and off the field as well. He’s a passionate player and I have a lot of respect for him.”
Media Didn’t Let Vrabel Off The Hook That Easy
The media doesn’t like coach speak. They knew that they weren’t simply going to get the truth out of a stoic head ball coach like Vrabel. But that didn’t stop them from trying.
“I think that these things are tough decisions. I think we’re just trying to get it right,” Vrabel said as reported by Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. “And a lot of respect for Jabrill as a person and as a player, and what we felt like was in the best interest of the team at this point was allowing him to have another opportunity elsewhere. There’s a lot of things that go into these decisions. They’re never easy. We’re just trying to get it right collectively.”
Patriots’ HC Vrabel Finally Breaks Silence On Peppers’ Release